Department of Health and Social Care

Review of the duty of candour in health and care settings

Lord Markham: My Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy) (Maria Caulfield) has made the following Written Statement:I wish to inform the House that the Department of Health and Social Care will lead a review into the effectiveness of the statutory duty of candour for health and social care providers in England. The review will formally commence early in the New Year.The duty of candour is set out in regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. It has been in place for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts since 2014 and for all other providers regulated by the Care Quality Commission since 2015.The duty of candour is about people’s right to openness and transparency from their health or care provider. It means that when something goes wrong during the provision of health and care services, patients and their families have a right to receive explanations for what happened as soon as possible and a meaningful apology.Since its introduction, there has been variation in how the duty has been applied in some settings. To that effect, the review will look at the operation and enforcement of the existing duty, with a focus on delivering recommendations that can improve its application.The Terms of Reference will be published on Gov.UK and I will deposit a copy in the Libraries of both Houses.

Government response to the consultation on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices

Lord Markham: My Hon Friend the Minister of State (Minister for Social Care) (Helen Whately) has made the following Written Statement:I make this statement on behalf of myself, my Hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care, (Andrew Stephenson), and my Hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy (Maria Caulfield), to announce the conclusion of the Government’s consultation on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices, and our response.The COVID-19 pandemic taught us valuable lessons about restrictions that had a serious effect on the health and wellbeing of care residents, patients and their families and friends.Visiting was restricted at the height of the pandemic to prevent the spread of Covid and keep people safe, but as restrictions eased the guidance for visiting in hospital and care settings changed accordingly.The majority of settings adhered to the guidance but there have been reports of people being denied access to family members and loved ones, so the Government has acted to make sure expectations around visits are clear to providers.On 21 June 2023, the Department for Health and Social Care launched a public consultation on our proposal to ensure that visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices is protected in legislation.Under the proposal, the importance of visiting for patients, care home residents and loved ones will become a fundamental standard of care, set out in regulations for the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This means that a visit from a loved one to patients and care home residents will be safeguarded, and Care Quality Commission inspections will monitor if health and care providers are meeting these obligations.We received over 1,400 responses to the consultation from a wide range of stakeholders, the majority of which supported the Government’s proposal. We therefore plan to bring forward secondary legislation to create a new fundamental standard in CQC regulations.I would like to thank all those who participated in our consultation and in particular those from John’s Campaign and Care Rights UK, the Member for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden), the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch) and the Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper) who have continued to campaign on this issue.The Government recognises their efforts and that of the many health and care settings which understand the importance of visiting and continue to follow our existing guidance that visiting should be facilitated. We will work closely with CQC to develop clear guidance so that all settings can be in no doubt as to the standard expected in the provision of care, including supporting visiting.The Government’s response to the consultation has been published on GOV.UK and I have deposited copies in the Libraries of both Houses.

Home Office

Signing of the Rwanda Treaty

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:On 15 November, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in relation to the Migration and Economic Development Partnership between the UK and Rwanda. The Court acknowledged that changes can be delivered to address their concerns. We have been working with the Government of Rwanda to make these changes – they are equally as committed to deliver this partnership. Yesterday, I signed a new treaty with Foreign Minister Biruta. This further strengthens our Partnership and addresses the conclusion from the Supreme Court on the risk of refoulement to those individuals who are relocated to Rwanda.The treaty can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-rwanda-treaty-provision-of-an-asylum-partnership This treaty is binding in international law. It makes it absolutely clear that people relocated to Rwanda will be safe and supported and will not be removed to a country other than the UK. This ensures there is no risk of refoulement. For those who are not granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, they will get equivalent treatment which includes being granted permanent residence so that they are able to stay and integrate into Rwandan society. Through the treaty, Rwanda will introduce a strengthened end-to-end asylum system. Individuals will have the right to appeal a decision on their asylum claim, which will be considered by a new, specialist asylum appeals body. It will have one Rwandan and one other Commonwealth co-president and be made up of judges from a mix of nationalities, selected by the co-presidents. The treaty also enhances the role of the independent Monitoring Committee which will ensure adherence to obligations under the agreement. It will have the power to set its own priority areas for monitoring and be given unfettered access to complete assessments and reports. The Committee will monitor the entire relocation process, including initial screening, to relocation and settlement in Rwanda. It will develop a system to enable relocated individuals and legal representatives to lodge confidential complaints directly to the Committee. The Prime Minister committed to stop the boats, and we are delivering on that. The number of arrivals is down by a third; the initial asylum backlog is down from 92,000 to less than 20,000; we have removed over 22,000 people this year; and we have already closed 50 asylum hotels. To fully solve this problem, we need a strong deterrent as part of our wider toolkit. As our deal with Albania shows, deterrence works: Albanian arrivals are down by more than 90 per cent this year. That is why it is essential we remove illegal migrants to Rwanda. If people know they cannot stay in the UK if they come here illegally, we will prevent people from risking their lives by making the dangerous journey across the Channel. The Prime Minister has announced we will be bringing forward legislation to complement this treaty. I look forward to introducing this to the House in due course.

Department for Education

Schools and Colleges Update

Baroness Barran: My Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan MP), has made the following statement:This update follows from my oral and written ministerial statements to the House in September and October.An updated list of schools and colleges with confirmed cases of RAAC in England has been published today. As of 27 November, there are 231 education settings with confirmed RAAC in some of their buildings. Thanks to the hard work of school and college leaders, 228 settings (99%) are providing full time face-to-face education for all pupils. 3 settings have hybrid arrangements in place. This may involve some remote learning on some days as not all pupils can currently receive full-time face-to-face education. There are no education settings with confirmed RAAC where all pupils are in full-time remote learning.Last year we issued a questionnaire asking responsible bodies for schools and colleges to identify whether they suspected they had RAAC. Responsible bodies have submitted responses to the questionnaire for 100% of schools and colleges with blocks built in the target era. All schools and colleges that have advised us they suspect they might have RAAC have had a first survey to confirm if RAAC is present. The vast majority of schools and colleges surveyed to date have been found to have no RAAC.Every school or college with confirmed RAAC is assigned dedicated support from our team of caseworkers. Project delivery teams are on site to support schools and colleges to implement mitigation plans. They will work with them to put in place a bespoke plan that supports face-to-face education for all pupils as soon as possible based on their circumstances. Mitigation plans include other spaces on the school site, or in nearby schools or elsewhere in the local area, until building works are carried out or temporary buildings are installed.The government is funding the emergency work needed to mitigate the presence of RAAC, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. All reasonable requests for additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall, are being approved. The government is funding longer-term refurbishment or rebuilding projects to address the presence of RAAC in schools. Schools and colleges will either be offered capital grants to fund refurbishment work to permanently remove RAAC, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, including through the School Rebuilding Programme.I want to reassure pupils, parents and staff that this government is doing whatever it takes to support our schools and colleges in responding to RAAC and minimise disruption to education.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Future Gas Security Publications (Update to the Energy Security Plan, Powering Up Britain)

Lord Callanan: My Rt Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Graham Stuart MP) has today made the following statement.I am pleased to announce that the Government has today published two updates to the March 2023 Powering Up Britain Energy Security Plan. The first sets out key considerations on the future role that gas storage and other forms of flexibility can play in the security of gas supply. The second sets out a proposed methodology for assessing medium range gas supply security.Energy security is a priority for this Government as we transition to net zero. While we expect UK gas demand to decline as part of this transition, natural gas will continue to play a critical role in our energy system for decades to come. Alongside this reduced demand we are facing reduced domestic supply. With declining domestic gas production from the UK’s Continental Shelf, the UK will become more dependent on gas imports, including from global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies. As the gas storage and flexibility update highlights, natural gas LNG and interconnector imports are estimated to be approximately 11% of our total gas demand in 2023, rising to just under 50% in 2045.To slow this increasing dependence on gas imports and the risk of higher embedded emissions in them, the Government is backing the North Sea oil and gas industry - so as to make Britain more energy independent. That is why we have introduced the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill to give industry certainty as to the future of licensing rounds. The continuing award of new oil and gas licences is essential to the UK’s energy security, further investment in moving the basin to net zero and in retaining the supply chain required for the transition. It will help slow the decline in the UK’s domestic production of gas as we consider the ongoing role of flexibility in the UK’s gas supply for the coming decades.The role played by flexible sources of gas supply is expected to change over the coming years to provide two roles – continued and probably increased flexibility to respond to patterns of demand as well as making a contribution to baseload supply. For the gas system, the three forms of supply side, infrastructure-based forms of flexibility (geological gas storage, LNG and interconnectors) all share three key features: they can respond to peaks in demand, can be dialled up or down depending on demand across days and seasons, and their gas supply contribution is driven by market signals.The gas storage and flexibility update therefore explores the future role that flexible sources of gas supply might play in gas security over the medium to long term, and the associated policy decisions for Government. We are proposing to launch a Call for Evidence on flexible sources in the coming months to support policy development on the future role of flexibility in gas security of supply.The second update publication outlines a proposed methodology that could be used by the planned Future System Operator (FSO) to deliver a new medium range gas supply security assessment. This will be an annual assessment that will consider how the UK’s future estimated gas supplies compare against demand scenarios five and ten years into the future. It will help Government and industry gain insight and plan for the UK’s future gas security. The Government will use this publication to engage with industry, academia, Ofgem, the system operators, and other stakeholders to further refine the methodology ahead of the FSO becoming operational.I will place a copy of the documents: ‘The role of gas storage and other forms of flexibility in security of supply’ and the ‘Medium range gas supply security assessment: methodology’ in the Libraries of the House.You can find the updates to the Energy Security Plan on: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/role-of-gas-storage-and-other-forms-of-flexibility-in-security-of-supply andhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/medium-range-gas-supply-security-assessment-methodology